Knife Crime

Extracts from this document...

Introduction

1 babo road Killage Armagh GY32 W43 28/09/08 Dear Editor, I am a teenage girl from Killage, County Armagh. I have become very concerned about the increase rise in youth crime especially knife crime. Knife crime is a problem both in Armagh, Northern Ireland and the British Isles. In my own town there has been an increase in youth drinking and anti - social behavior. Our local Council has held a number of meetings with concerned residents who believe the town has become unsafe to go about normal activities because of certain youths. The local community feel threatened by the young people. It is believed that many of these people are drinking alcohol and taking drugs, they may even be carrying knifes. ...read more.

Middle

The difference is that these weapons are now being used to hurt people. Knifes are not just used for protection but also to injure and in some cases kill people. It would seem that the government is trying to help with the problem of knife crime. It was unveiled that a �38 million package for mentoring actives programmes is to be introduced to deal with knife crime hotspots. This would try to give young people different interest and keep them off the streets. Jacqui Smiths introduced a "Shock tactics" for knife carries in England and Wales. The Shock tactics have seemed to work this is when young people that carry knives would have to visit hospitals where stabbing victims are treated, in a bid to shock them into changing their behavior. ...read more.

Conclusion

However, critics said that those similar trails in the United States actually showed no evidence of working and the idea seemed "half-baked". Then came the national knife amnesty announced by Charles Clarke in a bid to half the rise in the crimes involved the weapons. Mr. Clarke said the project was to allow people to hand in weapons without fear of prosecution, he ran this for 5 weeks. Static's show that knife crime is four times more likely than gun crime and that every 52 minutes there is a knife related incident. These static's are shocking. Which brings me back to the question of what has changed? I believe that the pressures of families translate into young people feeling demoralized and lacking control. Therefore, I believe that the adults in our society would need to look beyond the weapons to find the reason for this terrible increase in crime. Yours Sincerely, Martha Mage ...read more.